• typedef mc (unregistered) in reply to mrprogguy
    mrprogguy:
    - No checking to see if 'new LevelObject()' returned a value? *UNSAFE*

    Have you never heard of exceptions?

    mrprogguy:
    - Pointer dereferencing instead of passing object references? *SLOW*

    How do you think object references are implemented?

    mrprogguy:
    Glad I don't work there. I'd be tanning hides all over the place.

    Glad you don't work here -- we'd ridicule you until you cried.

  • UKKay (unregistered) in reply to typedef mc
    typedef mc:
    Plenty of men drive MX5s. It's probably the closest you can come to driving a track car for under $30k. It's a great car to go trolling for mouth breathing Mustang drivers.
    Maybe in the US, where even the likes of the Mustang are ridiculously heavy and have crappy handling.

    In the UK you can pick up hot hatches that will outperform both your Mustangs and Miatas (MX-5 dammit!) for under £15k, so the men drive them and leave the pretty cars to the women.

    </femaleLotusEliseDriver>
  • (cs) in reply to mrprogguy
    mrprogguy:
    - No checking to see if 'new LevelObject()' returned a value? *UNSAFE*

    Universe not found. Please insert quantum singularity to continue.

  • (cs) in reply to UKKay

    I don't get your argument. Can you use a car analogy, please?

    UKKay:
    typedef mc:
    Plenty of men drive MX5s. It's probably the closest you can come to driving a track car for under $30k. It's a great car to go trolling for mouth breathing Mustang drivers.
    Maybe in the US, where even the likes of the Mustang are ridiculously heavy and have crappy handling.

    In the UK you can pick up hot hatches that will outperform both your Mustangs and Miatas (MX-5 dammit!) for under £15k, so the men drive them and leave the pretty cars to the women.

    </femaleLotusEliseDriver>
  • shMerker (unregistered) in reply to BK

    I don't know how this happens but I can tell you that it does happen. I worked in QA on a game that, except for the specific features cut, could've been the one in this article. It was a fairly high-budget, high-profile title too.

    It was a big disappointment to the test team when those features got cut too, since we felt it really hurt what made the game fun in the first place. I remember getting a pep talk from a senior tester saying that this happens on every game, that designs are always more ambitious than what you can actually ship and that stuff always gets cut at the last minute and that you have to just keep plugging away even though all you see any more is the bugs and you're no longer excited about the project you're working on.

    It was the most depressing pep talk I've ever heard.

  • Chris (unregistered) in reply to Keith
    Keith:
    Link: Alright guys, Ganondorf is at it again. Lets jump in my Miata.

    Navi: Dude, there's only room for one passenger in this P.O.S. How are we going to seat everyone when we rescue Princess Zelda?

    Link: You're a fairy - you can go in the glove compartment.

    Hey Listen! Hey! HEY! LISTEN!

    run Navi over

  • katastrofa (unregistered) in reply to Penguin
    Penguin:
    katastrofa:
    Penguin:
    // Management sees this as the quickest fix
    And here we see what will save the world... programmers do it for love, while managers do it for money. The whole open-source argument in one comment!

    Save THE WORLD? Are you nuts?

    The rest of the world couldn't care less about some source code purity issues.

    I assume you refer to that part of the world where they still don't use software.

    Anyone who uses software has a stake in software quality, whether they understand the issues or not.

    They have a stake in obtaining their goals. Have you ever talked to a normal user? They just don't care about code quality. All they care is how it works and that it doesn't get in their way too often.

    I just hate this hubris, "I will save the world by refactoring my PayrollCalculator class"...

  • (cs)
  • whatever (unregistered) in reply to Tyler Szabo
    Tyler Szabo:
    I was actually guessing Duke Nukem: Forever up until the article said that wasn't. - Blew my mind.

    I'm pretty sure everyone was guessing Duke Nukem Forever up until that point.

  • YouKnowMe (unregistered) in reply to MechanicJay
    MechanicJay:
    Code Dependent:
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    Try to keep that envy suppressed, willya? It's so unbecoming.

    Clearly, you're not an automotive enthusiast. You probably drive your boring generi-sedan everyday and cringe when you take an off-ramp too fast and accidentally pull .05 g.
    As is so happens, the Mx-5 (miata) is an extraordinarily well balanced car. I always have to chuckle at people's ignorance when it comes to the miata. I'm not sure how a rear wheel drive car that will out-handle anything else in the sub 40K price range (and most cars above it) is a "girl" car -- I suppose you're just judging a book by it's cover.

    I AM an automotive enthusiast and yes, the Miata is a girl's car. I also guarantee the daily driver I have is at least 10x faster than a Miata. It also outweighs it by a couple of tons ;)

  • Zach Bora (unregistered)

    The real WTF is that they use dates in 2 number formats instead of including day, month and year. I have no idea what date stuff like 01/11 is. If it's day/month, then you`re missing the year which is a real WTF because softwares live over years.

    At my company, we use format YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm.

  • bottom (unregistered)

    I thought Alex said once that games were exempt from WTF since they aren't designed to have a long lifespan like business software. For a console game, if it works without crashing or visible bugs, the quality of the code doesn't affect the end user.

    Also, I think lots of games coders are self-taught at a young age and have more years to ingrain bad habits (not using source control, not checking return values) before entering the world of work.

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to typedef mc
    typedef mc:
    mrprogguy:
    - Pointer dereferencing instead of passing object references? *SLOW*

    How do you think object references are implemented?

    Agreed, object references are essentially syntactic sugar for pointers. They just make it so you don't have to use the -> operator, nor deal with any pointer semantics but it's still a pointer.

  • BobB (unregistered) in reply to typedef mc
    typedef mc:
    Plenty of men drive MX5s. It's probably the closest you can come to driving a track car for under 30k. It's a great car to go trolling for mouth breathing Mustang drivers.
    I drive a Mustang! I also drive like a nun... I never understood this, but you pull up to the light and people (even lil Civics) rev and wanna race. WTF, I just wanna get home and eat. The only time I saw MX-5 next to me we both had our windows rolled down, smiled, nodded, then both kept pace with one another down the road. It was an asshole thing to do to the cars behind us, but we both knew it was for the greater good.

    Sides, I've a GT, I am gearing it more for sound... I want Nessun Dorma in full surround and bass, damnit!

  • SomeCoder (unregistered)
    Jake:
    And I'll stop you right there- it's not Duke Nukem Forever because this game exists, and has been released.

    Oh and since when has this game been released? Unless I missed something and/or no websites I found on a cursory search have been updated, this game is still filed under "vaporware" as far as I'm concerned.

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    typedef mc:
    mrprogguy:
    - Pointer dereferencing instead of passing object references? *SLOW*

    How do you think object references are implemented?

    Agreed, object references are essentially syntactic sugar for pointers. They just make it so you don't have to use the -> operator, nor deal with any pointer semantics but it's still a pointer.

    More specifically, a reference is a const pointer, with syntax sugar to avoid dereferencing syntax, I'd imagine because the pointer address will never change.

  • Frenchier than thou (unregistered) in reply to MechanicJay
    MechanicJay:
    Code Dependent:
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    Try to keep that envy suppressed, willya? It's so unbecoming.

    Clearly, you're not an automotive enthusiast. You probably drive your boring generi-sedan everyday and cringe when you take an off-ramp too fast and accidentally pull .05 g.
    As is so happens, the Mx-5 (miata) is an extraordinarily well balanced car. I always have to chuckle at people's ignorance when it comes to the miata. I'm not sure how a rear wheel drive car that will out-handle anything else in the sub 40K price range (and most cars above it) is a "girl" car -- I suppose you're just judging a book by it's cover.

    I am a guy, and I love my Miata. And you are BOTH right.

    Get your hands on a Miata, then take it on an autoX track to experience driving bliss.

    But it IS a chick car, I can't peel them off of it, or me! :-P

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to MindChild
    MindChild:

    More specifically, a reference is a const pointer, with syntax sugar to avoid dereferencing syntax, I'd imagine because the pointer address will never change.

    Yep, no pointer semantics and it's const.

  • (cs) in reply to Zach Bora
    Zach Bora:
    The real WTF is that they use dates in 2 number formats instead of including day, month and year. I have no idea what date stuff like 01/11 is. If it's day/month, then you`re missing the year which is a real WTF because softwares live over years.

    At my company, we use format YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm.

    True... though at least now their code isn't vulnerable to the Y2K bug...

  • Zero (unregistered) in reply to LOL
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    That's because real men don't drive MX-5s, they race MX-5s. There's a reason that on any given day there are more MX-5s racing than any other car -- almost 20 years of proven technology in a performant, affordable package.
  • lazy Zoinks (unregistered) in reply to YouKnowMe
    YouKnowMe:
    MechanicJay:
    Code Dependent:
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    Try to keep that envy suppressed, willya? It's so unbecoming.

    Clearly, you're not an automotive enthusiast. You probably drive your boring generi-sedan everyday and cringe when you take an off-ramp too fast and accidentally pull .05 g.
    As is so happens, the Mx-5 (miata) is an extraordinarily well balanced car. I always have to chuckle at people's ignorance when it comes to the miata. I'm not sure how a rear wheel drive car that will out-handle anything else in the sub 40K price range (and most cars above it) is a "girl" car -- I suppose you're just judging a book by it's cover.

    I AM an automotive enthusiast and yes, the Miata is a girl's car. I also guarantee the daily driver I have is at least 10x faster than a Miata. It also outweighs it by a couple of tons ;)

    pray tell, what is this "daily driver" that does over Mach 1.5 ??

  • (cs) in reply to BobB
    BobB:
    typedef mc:
    Plenty of men drive MX5s. It's probably the closest you can come to driving a track car for under 30k. It's a great car to go trolling for mouth breathing Mustang drivers.
    I drive a Mustang! I also drive like a nun... I never understood this, but you pull up to the light and people (even lil Civics) rev and wanna race. WTF, I just wanna get home and eat. The only time I saw MX-5 next to me we both had our windows rolled down, smiled, nodded, then both kept pace with one another down the road. It was an asshole thing to do to the cars behind us, but we both knew it was for the greater good.

    I had a rental 'stang for a day while my beater was in the shop and I did this with a Camero owner. Kinda hard to explain that effect. I think it was more "I worked hard, earned this, won't abuse it, but I could if I wanted to." kinda thing (despite me being technically a poser for that day.)

  • (cs) in reply to lazy Zoinks
    lazy Zoinks:
    YouKnowMe:
    MechanicJay:
    Code Dependent:
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    Try to keep that envy suppressed, willya? It's so unbecoming.

    Clearly, you're not an automotive enthusiast. You probably drive your boring generi-sedan everyday and cringe when you take an off-ramp too fast and accidentally pull .05 g.
    As is so happens, the Mx-5 (miata) is an extraordinarily well balanced car. I always have to chuckle at people's ignorance when it comes to the miata. I'm not sure how a rear wheel drive car that will out-handle anything else in the sub 40K price range (and most cars above it) is a "girl" car -- I suppose you're just judging a book by it's cover.

    I AM an automotive enthusiast and yes, the Miata is a girl's car. I also guarantee the daily driver I have is at least 10x faster than a Miata. It also outweighs it by a couple of tons ;)

    pray tell, what is this "daily driver" that does over Mach 1.5 ??

    ...and weighs 3-4 tons?

  • (cs) in reply to tezoatlipoca
    tezoatlipoca:
    BobB:
    typedef mc:
    Plenty of men drive MX5s. It's probably the closest you can come to driving a track car for under 30k. It's a great car to go trolling for mouth breathing Mustang drivers.
    I drive a Mustang! I also drive like a nun... I never understood this, but you pull up to the light and people (even lil Civics) rev and wanna race. WTF, I just wanna get home and eat. The only time I saw MX-5 next to me we both had our windows rolled down, smiled, nodded, then both kept pace with one another down the road. It was an asshole thing to do to the cars behind us, but we both knew it was for the greater good.

    I had a rental 'stang for a day while my beater was in the shop and I did this with a Camero owner. Kinda hard to explain that effect. I think it was more "I worked hard, earned this, won't abuse it, but I could if I wanted to." kinda thing (despite me being technically a poser for that day.)

    I think that the attitude stems from: I could and you know it, so I don't need to.

  • YouKnowMe (unregistered) in reply to lazy Zoinks
    lazy Zoinks:
    YouKnowMe:
    MechanicJay:
    Code Dependent:
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    Try to keep that envy suppressed, willya? It's so unbecoming.

    Clearly, you're not an automotive enthusiast. You probably drive your boring generi-sedan everyday and cringe when you take an off-ramp too fast and accidentally pull .05 g.
    As is so happens, the Mx-5 (miata) is an extraordinarily well balanced car. I always have to chuckle at people's ignorance when it comes to the miata. I'm not sure how a rear wheel drive car that will out-handle anything else in the sub 40K price range (and most cars above it) is a "girl" car -- I suppose you're just judging a book by it's cover.

    I AM an automotive enthusiast and yes, the Miata is a girl's car. I also guarantee the daily driver I have is at least 10x faster than a Miata. It also outweighs it by a couple of tons ;)

    pray tell, what is this "daily driver" that does over Mach 1.5 ??

    Wow, maybe some reading comprehension is needed there. I don't recall saying anything about the top speed. Maybe I should have used the word "quicker" but I fail to see how you would just assume that I meant having a super high top speed.

    Also, the only data I could find on a Miata says that it does the 1/4 mile in 15.9 at sea level. The last time I raced (it's been several years but the car is still my daily driver) I hit 13.6 at 2200 feet above sea level (which I feel is pretty good for a car that weighs 4000 pounds and is still completely street legal). The Miata DOES handle better than my car but I really don't care :)

    So maybe I was engaging in some hyperbole but I wasn't aware that was against the law :)

  • Yep (unregistered) in reply to snoofle
    snoofle:
    lazy Zoinks:
    YouKnowMe:
    MechanicJay:
    Code Dependent:
    LOL:
    Wow, what an embarassing picture. Big burly man in front of what is undeniably a GIRL'S car. Men don't drive Mazda MX-5s. My girlfriend drives an MX-5, my mum's had one but I don't know any men that would even dare try to get away with that!
    Try to keep that envy suppressed, willya? It's so unbecoming.

    Clearly, you're not an automotive enthusiast. You probably drive your boring generi-sedan everyday and cringe when you take an off-ramp too fast and accidentally pull .05 g.
    As is so happens, the Mx-5 (miata) is an extraordinarily well balanced car. I always have to chuckle at people's ignorance when it comes to the miata. I'm not sure how a rear wheel drive car that will out-handle anything else in the sub 40K price range (and most cars above it) is a "girl" car -- I suppose you're just judging a book by it's cover.

    I AM an automotive enthusiast and yes, the Miata is a girl's car. I also guarantee the daily driver I have is at least 10x faster than a Miata. It also outweighs it by a couple of tons ;)

    pray tell, what is this "daily driver" that does over Mach 1.5 ??

    ...and weighs 3-4 tons?

    Must be referring to the special "jet engine" edition Hummer. Fastest (and least fuel efficient) way to do your morning commute.

  • Shadowman (unregistered) in reply to typedef mc
    typedef mc:

    Plenty of men drive MX5s. It's probably the closest you can come to driving a track car for under 30k. It's a great car to go trolling for mouth breathing Mustang drivers.

    Hey, leave the Mustang out of this!

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to Yep
    Yep:
    Must be referring to the special "jet engine" edition Hummer. Fastest (and least fuel efficient) way to do your morning commute.

    You mean similar to this: http://www.ronpatrickstuff.com/

  • Top.Cod3r (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    Jake:
    And I'll stop you right there- it's not Duke Nukem Forever because this game exists, and has been released.

    Oh and since when has this game been released? Unless I missed something and/or no websites I found on a cursory search have been updated, this game is still filed under "vaporware" as far as I'm concerned.

    You missed somthing. Might I suggest a reading comprehension night class?

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to Top.Cod3r
    Top.Cod3r:
    SomeCoder:
    Jake:
    And I'll stop you right there- it's not Duke Nukem Forever because this game exists, and has been released.

    Oh and since when has this game been released? Unless I missed something and/or no websites I found on a cursory search have been updated, this game is still filed under "vaporware" as far as I'm concerned.

    You missed somthing. Might I suggest a reading comprehension night class?

    You are right, I did miss that. Now kindly crawl back under the rock from which you emerged.

  • (cs) in reply to halcyon1234
    halcyon1234:
    I don't get your argument. Can you use a car analogy, please?

    Well, you see, the C++ language is kind of like a carburetor...

  • Mister Fritters (unregistered) in reply to Top.Cod3r

    The "This" adjective is representing the game described by TDWTF, not Duke Nukem Forever. Do I get a cookie?

  • It'sa Me! Mario! (unregistered)

    So, somewhat on-topic... sounds like all this game was missing was the addition of a 'Cool Cam'

    Off topic, if I was going to get a 'sleeper' (though, arguably it's not a sleeper to anyone that knows better, it's just not a car that was ever marketed or available new in North America) to race, this would be it:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_skyline#GT-R_3

  • JRH (unregistered)
    It was a big disappointment to the test team when those features got cut too, since we felt it really hurt what made the game fun in the first place. I remember getting a pep talk from a senior tester saying that this happens on every game, that designs are always more ambitious than what you can actually ship and that stuff always gets cut at the last minute and that you have to just keep plugging away even though all you see any more is the bugs and you're no longer excited about the project you're working on.

    And this, ladies and gentlemen, encompasses everything that is wrong with the game industry of this day.

    I don't know about others, but I'd gladly wait 1 or 2 years longer per game if it meant we get something greater than or equal to the designers' original concept for the game. Instead, we have an industry full of clueless and feature-crazed management and developers who don't know how to properly perform surgery on game engines and don't have enough time to actually do QA before the deadline in three weeks, just so the company can cash in on a game that will just be sold to GameStop one month later rather than becoming a timeless classic. So they just chop off major features, leave bugs in, and call it a finished product.

    While this business model works just fine in the software applications business - given good support and patching and all that - it should burn in hell when used in the video games business. Entertainment and utility are not the same thing. Video games are art, and you can't rush art.

  • Worf (unregistered) in reply to Zach Bora
    Zach Bora:
    The real WTF is that they use dates in 2 number formats instead of including day, month and year. I have no idea what date stuff like 01/11 is. If it's day/month, then you`re missing the year which is a real WTF because softwares live over years.

    At my company, we use format YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm.

    This is a game. The first thing about programming games is that the code base is disposable, literally. That's why modern games are so horrific in their codebases, and very fragile, and patches come out fast and furious. About the only thing that survives a game is its engine, but since most of that is already written and used in many projects, or purchased from a third-party, that code tends to be good and stable. It's all the rest around it that's sloppily added on.

    Very few games have multi-year development, and very few yearly games reuse code beyond a few years old.

    Game code is written to be fast to release, not efficient, nor maintainable - the faster you can release a game, the faster you make money on it. Take too long, and your game can be worthless.

    The only interesting thing is why we don't see more game-related WTFs here - a typical game will have enough to post for years... but I guess game devs are easily scared (and highly replacable), and always under time crunch, so the luxury of posting isn't available.

  • Monkey Brains (unregistered) in reply to not topcoder
    not topcoder:
    Yeah, so what?

    I found the trolling extremely funny. I never paid attention to the usernames in this forum until I started checking for topcoder. I also never posted until I heard that he was booted.

    I'd trade 700 billion MDF's for 1 topcoder post.

    I enjoyed Top Cod3r's posts. I saw him as a persona in the vein of an SNL character or the boss from the Office. He did add an extra dimension to TDWTF.

    I don't see him as a troll because he didn't use controversy, hate, or personal attacks. He chatted with whoever wanted to chat with him.

    He was always relevant to the story and was presenting common WTF methods and solutions. He did it as someone who believed in them and that's what made his persona entertaining.

    If he's really been banned, then I'm going to have to cancel my subscription. The comments to the air conditioner story were mostly so brain-numbingly boring that I couldn't find anything funny after having read through them.

  • (cs)
    other times it was like you were driving a cluster of anvils on a syrup-covered road

    Ah, good old Grand Theft Anvil. Love that game.

  • (cs) in reply to UKKay
    UKKay:
    In the UK you can pick up hot hatches that will outperform both your Mustangs and Miatas (MX-5 dammit!) for under £15k, so the men drive them and leave the pretty cars to the women.

    </femaleLotusEliseDriver>

    Well, if their masculinity is that threatened by the perceptions of others, then it's probably best. Real men drive cars that are both hot and pretty.

  • grB (unregistered) in reply to typedef mc

    on console games at least you almost never see c++ exceptions being enabled due to the size overhead. When your executable is already right up against the limit of the amount of RAM available you really really can't afford a megabyte or two of exception handling tables in it. Because the compiler writers know this full well they don't spend much time making generated EH code very efficient either when they can be making improvements that will benefit everyone more so throwing and catching exceptions will be even more horribly inefficient than normal (which isn't that efficient anyway).

  • (cs) in reply to Frenchier than thou
    Frenchier than thou:
    But it IS a chick car, I can't peel them off of it, or me! :-P
    So true, it doesn't even need to be mentioned. Quoting (or possibly paraphrasing) Death of a Salesman: "He doesn't have to talk about it. He's doing it."
  • sf (unregistered) in reply to Steve
    Steve:
    Not wtf:
    The real wtf is Alex banned top coder because he was too funny and stealing the spotlight. The next wtf is this comment will be deleted shortly.
    ...Some people try to reply seriously, others start breaking out the "you've been trolled" posts and then there are a handful of people who are like "oh my god I LOVE you TopCod3r, have my babies!" which is also just pathetic...
    I'm with you on that point completely.

    I do enjoy his posts because he is really good at writing something that is on the verge of appearing a serious post. Regardless of whether his posts are trolls or not and that some don't like them, banning him, if true, is really stupid.

  • Osno (unregistered)

    Excellent move, running our favorite troll out. Now we have a much more fulfilling discussion on cars. Yay!

  • ButtomCod3r (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    MindChild:

    More specifically, a reference is a const pointer, with syntax sugar to avoid dereferencing syntax, I'd imagine because the pointer address will never change.

    Yep, no pointer semantics and it's const.

    Thus, it's faster because the compiler can perform optimizations on a reference that it wouldn't be sure about if it was a plain pointer.

    Saying a pointer is slower than a reference is a tremendous feat of pedantry and not taking account of the whole context. But you might be doing some weird ten-million-times a second scientific calculation in a context where aliasing an object could save you milliseconds off and, thus, save the world from nucular explosion. Or just trying to get that 0.00001 fps you've been looking for...

  • Top.Cod3r (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    You are right, I did miss that. Now kindly crawl back under the rock from which you emerged.

    I apologize for pointing out you were unable to read and comprehend the very line you quoted. It was not my intention to hurt your feelings or demean you, but I can see now that was the result. In the future, I shall attempt to point out your failings in a positive and constructive manner.

  • Ie (unregistered) in reply to ButtomCod3r
    ButtomCod3r:
    Thus, it's faster because the compiler can perform optimizations on a reference that it wouldn't be sure about if it was a plain pointer.

    Welcome back, TopCod3r! Big fan big fan.

  • TheDev (unregistered) in reply to JRH
    JRH:
    And this, ladies and gentlemen, encompasses everything that is wrong with the game industry of this day.

    I don't know about others, but I'd gladly wait 1 or 2 years longer per game if it meant we get something greater than or equal to the designers' original concept for the game. Instead, we have an industry full of clueless and feature-crazed management and developers who don't know how to properly perform surgery on game engines and don't have enough time to actually do QA before the deadline in three weeks, just so the company can cash in on a game that will just be sold to GameStop one month later rather than becoming a timeless classic. So they just chop off major features, leave bugs in, and call it a finished product.

    While this business model works just fine in the software applications business - given good support and patching and all that - it should burn in hell when used in the video games business. Entertainment and utility are not the same thing. Video games are art, and you can't rush art.

    Then there's Too Human (much delayed, turned out to be garbage) ...

  • tbrown (unregistered) in reply to Not wtf
    Not wtf:
    The real wtf is Alex banned top coder because he was too funny and stealing the spotlight. The next wtf is this comment will be deleted shortly.

    Say it ain't so!! Those were some of the best posts!!!

    (captcha: ratis -- kinda says it all)

  • Asiago Chow (unregistered)

    This isn't a WTF.

    You need your product to be in the supply chain by September to make back your investment. It doesn't work. If you dick around trying to fix one feature you risk eliminating all possibility of reward. At that point why fix anything?

    Yeah, perfect world it would be something you fixed. In a more perfect world it wouldn't have been a problem to begin with. It was, this isn't, so you are left doing what movies, TV shows, political candidates, and everyone else with fixed resources and a real world "no bullshit" deadline does: cut.

    Not cutting would be the WTF.

  • tbrown (unregistered) in reply to Steve
    Steve:
    Not wtf:
    The real wtf is Alex banned top coder because he was too funny and stealing the spotlight. The next wtf is this comment will be deleted shortly.
    I used to really enjoy TopCod3r's post's but I must admit that now they are really starting to piss me off. Whilst he is often funny and inventive, his baiting almost always derails the entire comments section. Often there are some really good and interesting points made in the comments but as soon as TopCod3r posts the whole thing just degenerates. Some people try to reply seriously, others start breaking out the "you've been trolled" posts and then there are a handful of people who are like "oh my god I LOVE you TopCod3r, have my babies!" which is also just pathetic.

    If Alex really has 'moderated' TopCod3r then I don't see it as a WTF - far from it. Maybe it will convince TopCod3r that he doesn't need to troll every single article on TDWTF.

    And now we have a whole "meta" thread talking about TopCod3r without actually responding to any thread stemming from a TopCod3r post!! =8^0

    As someone else said recently (paraphrasing...), "the scary thing is that a lot of what TopCod3r throws out while trolling is actually being done by someone out in the real world!" I know people who have fixed DivZero errors by adding an epsilon to the denominator rather than do the work of validating input. I've known puh-lenty of arrogant team leads who think they know it all and are only to happy to teach the rest of us ignorant peons. I find the posts a good reminder that such attitudes/practices frequently do exist and a reminder to always be on the lookout for them!!

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to JRH
    JRH:
    It was a big disappointment to the test team when those features got cut too, since we felt it really hurt what made the game fun in the first place. I remember getting a pep talk from a senior tester saying that this happens on every game, that designs are always more ambitious than what you can actually ship and that stuff always gets cut at the last minute and that you have to just keep plugging away even though all you see any more is the bugs and you're no longer excited about the project you're working on.

    And this, ladies and gentlemen, encompasses everything that is wrong with the game industry of this day.

    I don't know about others, but I'd gladly wait 1 or 2 years longer per game if it meant we get something greater than or equal to the designers' original concept for the game. Instead, we have an industry full of clueless and feature-crazed management and developers who don't know how to properly perform surgery on game engines and don't have enough time to actually do QA before the deadline in three weeks, just so the company can cash in on a game that will just be sold to GameStop one month later rather than becoming a timeless classic. So they just chop off major features, leave bugs in, and call it a finished product.

    While this business model works just fine in the software applications business - given good support and patching and all that - it should burn in hell when used in the video games business. Entertainment and utility are not the same thing. Video games are art, and you can't rush art.

    That's true. I would be curious to know how many of this group has actually tried their hand at game programming. My first programs that I ever wrote were little game programs (GWBASIC actually) and recently, I got back in to it as hobby programming (C++).

    Game programming is really complicated. It takes a lot of time to design, write, debug, etc. It's really quite enjoyable though :)

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